The Internet has, over the past 2 decades, become a critical component of our day to day life. We use it to access news and entertainment, stay in touch with our near and dear ones and even access work. It has been huge for businesses by enabling them to go global. Every business worth its salt now has an online presence, be it a website or social media account.
Why Move Online?
The number of benefits that having an online presence offers businesses makes the need to move a no-brainer. The first benefit: the website is now the first touch-point for businesses and prospective clients. Advanced technologies make it possible to do a whole lot of things directly online, from sampling products to ordering and finally tracking delivery.
With the online format, the concept of working hours is gone. You can access an e-retailer, for instance, and shop for your requirements any time of the day. The emergence of mobile tech has taken the experience to a whole new level by personalizing it. Now you can do business online literally from anywhere, even if you are on the go. All you need is a smartphone or tablet.
One of the biggest reasons for businesses opting for an online presence is enhanced customer reach. Research shows that customer-reach spikes up by 40% for businesses with a website or any form of online presence compared to those without one. Business growth, in turn, shoots up by a massive 70%.
How are Industries Making the Shift?
For industries, the shift from the real-world to the online world is real and it has been profound. There are varying degrees to which industries have embraced it.
There are entire industries that have leveraged the Internet to complement their offline land-based presence. There are land-business industries that have completely shut down with the emergence of the online model. And nowadays you find new businesses that are completely online; everything is taken care digitally.
Why We Say the Internet Finally Won
The Internet finally did win; just look at the impact it has had on you, me and the world around. Look at the impact it has had on business overall. There are many examples of industries where the simple move to the Internet has resulted in the decimation of the real world industry. We will discuss this in a later segment.
Entertainment has seen one of the biggest shifts with TV, movies, games, and even your gambling entertainment moving seamlessly online. Take casino gambling, for instance: the land-based casino industry is still around but the ones that everyone is going to with a vengeance, only because of the advantages they offer, are the online and mobile gambling industries.
165+ vendors including the likes of NetEnt and Microgaming guarantee a secure online environment with hundreds of games. Reputed audit and testing agencies like TST and iTech Labs confirm the fair-play and reliability aspects by testing and certifying the RNGs that these vendors use for fair gaming.
Industries and How the Internet has Impacted Them
There are a few industries that have completely ceased to exist after the arrival of the online version. A very good example is the travel industry. You very rarely come across a real-world travel agency nowadays. Everything – from reading up reviews to checking availability to booking and payments – is done online through travel sites like Expedia and TripAdvisor.
Another good example is post and telegraph. The advancements in technology and the emergence of the Internet led to the entire postal industry mostly going online. On a day to day basis we have stopped writing letters, and the telegram is dead and buried. Writing letters on paper is history; we nowadays use messaging apps and e-mail to stay in touch. Social media helps as well.
A good example of an industry that has struck a healthy balance between online and offline presence is the retail industry. You practically get everything online in this industry – going to the malls is passé, visiting Amazon or any of the other e-tail majors is the new in-thing. And yet there is the entire logistical and manufacturing back-end that has remained traditionally offline.
There are a number of smaller businesses that are completely online, too. A good example is in the music industry and also health & wellness. Want to learn how to play the guitar? All you have to do is put out a search and you will find sites that offer a personal tutor to walk you through the entire experience. Even better, you get easy access to master classes from the best in the industry too! And the best part – they all exist online, with no need for a physical presence!
And the Future? Who Knows!
The Internet has come a long way from being touted as the future to becoming our present. It is a reality that industries would do well to recognize and accept. Doing that would enable them to look at it as an ally and help them find the right balance to maximize profit and minimize overheads.
Quite a few companies are in fact already doing it. Some of the tech majors – in the world post the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic – are talking of getting up to 70% of their workforce to function virtually even beyond the pandemic, because it would mean effective streamlining of cost by cutting out the massive overheads associated with leases, facilities management, logistics and more!
Another industry that is actively looking at this model now is real estate. Companies are looking to encourage virtual tours for prospective buyers to ensure business doesn’t grind to a halt. Financial companies are looking for a tech solution that would drastically reduce the time for contract exchanges and ensure buyers get ownership of property as soon as they transfer the funds. The Internet didn’t just win, it is here to stay, and we would do well to embrace it and enhance quality of life.